Our First Week!

Our Class

First Day Photos

                               

We had a great first week in 1-1! The children enjoyed getting to know one another through the sharing of their "All About Me" bags. There were big smiles and lots of excitement when the children shared an interest that others also had. The children also were enthusiastic to get to know one another through the use of our Find A Friend activity. 

Routines

The children did a wonderful job this week learning our classroom routines and procedures. They can now go through: arrival, lunchtime, and stack and pack routines with few reminders of what they need to do. 

Classroom Rules

As a teacher, one of my goals is to create a classroom environment where all students feel safe and valued. This week we worked together as a team to come up with our classroom rules. Discussing the rules together gives the children ownership and lets them actively decide what they want our classroom community to look like. The children did a wonderful job of coming up with rules that will make our classroom a safe and happy learning environment. 

Our Classroom Rules:

1. Be Kind.

2. Be respectful to others and their property.

3. Use nice manners at all times.

4. Be safe.

5. Work as a team!

Reading

This week, the children listened to the story: First Day Jitters. The children engaged in discussions about the emotions they felt about starting first grade. It made the children feel better to know that other children and even the teacher had some jitters before starting school!

We also read the book, Have You Filled A Bucket Today? The children learned that everyone carries around an invisible bucket and that we can fill others' buckets and our own bucket by being kind and considerate. The children shared examples of ways that they fill buckets while at school and at home. They worked together to create a class book titled, Our Bucket Filler Book. We will keep this in our classroom all year long for the children to enjoy. 

Later in the week, the children listened to, A Bad Case of The Stripes. After, they created a picture of themselves with a bad case of something they love. Their projects are hanging up in our classroom for you to enjoy on curriculum night.

Next week, I will begin assessing the children using Fountas and Pinnell running records. This will help me get to know the children as readers. I will continue working on these assessments until I have had time to read with each child.

Writing

This week, the children were introduced to Writer’s Workshop. After, listening to the book, Library Mouse, they discovered that they are all authors! We talked about how good writer’s: Think, Draw, Label, Write. They practiced these steps by writing down a hope or dream that they have for this year. Then, the children turned their writings into a cute bulletin board at the back of our classroom.

On Friday, the children worked together to brainstorm a long list of things that they need to be successful as first graders. After, the children each created a paper backpack. In it they placed their own personal list of what they need to be successful. You can see their backpack display hanging up in the hallway outside our classroom.

Math 

We began our first Everyday Math unit this week. To start the unit the children brainstormed a list of what they think they will do as Mathematicians this year. Then, they created a mathematician project.

Our first lessons focused on learning about our math routines. The children were also introduced to our calendar procedures. They enjoyed using the number line to play the game, Monster Squeeze. 

Notes:

~ Thank you for all your support at home and your help in making the start of this school year a great one! Please let me know if you have any questions. 

~AHML Library Card Note: Parents, if your child does not have a library card, now's the time to drop by the Memorial Library and get one! Students can now use their library cards at school to access the Memorial Library's online resources. Stay tuned for the next steps in putting these library cards to use! 

~There is no school on Monday, September 1st due to Labor Day. Classes will resume Tuesday, September 2nd.

~I look forward to seeing everyone at Curriculum Night on Wednesday at 6:00.

Have a great rest of the long weekend!